Hi
Sorry if this is a stupid question but I have all my CDs ripped and stored on an external harddrive which is plugged into the back of the Nova. Question is can I access the harddrive to add to it or to edit it. Is there a setting I need to change on my Nova. I can see the Nova on the network but not access anything.
You mean to add music files or edit them? Not to my knowledge, it does not export it as an smb shared drive or anything. (In server setting it just exports it with UPnP so that other network players can play from it). I believe you must unplug the drive and plug it into a computer.
Thatâs right. To add files or edit them the drive must be removed and connected to the computer. With a big collection itâs really better to have a nas. Then you can download to the computer and copy to the nas across the network.
This would be a really nice addition, and it probably would be quite easy for Naim to addâŚ
Easy to add the linux package I suppose, but then you know Naim and they will have to spend months to minimize processing load, it adds support complexity to deal with smb issues, etc. And I dunno, maybe better to use a file server for file serving duties.
Well sure, but the USB ports in their current form could be considered quite useless. To me they are at least, since i wouldnât go swapping a drive in and out all the time for file maintenance. But i would consider hooking a drive up permanently to the rear USB if it could be reached through the network.
The board that is used in the Nova is quite powerful, comparable to a Raspberry Pi 4 perhaps if they are using the latest version, at least more powerful than a Pi 3. So i donât think SMB would have much impact on the total load that is already taking placeâŚ
Not sure. It seems to me that the USB ports are a viable option for someone who isnât adding/editing content all the time. And someone who is doing that will be better off with a proper file server.
Even if the additional load may be small, not sure if really negligible when uploading. And itâs Naim and they even tweak things like the screen updating code to minimize influences.
You know, iâm not so sure about that. There is a full fledged webserver running, with even a (mostly unused) remote webinterface for controlling the streamer. That is a big thing to have running without putting it to good use. If they were really that serious about minimizing load, stuff like that would have been disabled a long time ago.
There are also tons of remote services running that are polling things like clients, local network services, remote online providers, vtuner lists, playlists, data from Spotify/Tidal/Qobuz etc. I donât think itâs really realistic to tune devices like these to a degree that is sometimes expected by people on the forums.
Yeah good points. Though the webserver is most likely a minimal one and not apache (I didnât check), and isnât doing any work when not accessed. And there is not so much it can do. Samba however can generate quite some CPU load when under load, and if they exposed a samba share, people will misuse it as a file server.
Canât comment on how they might be handling the other services, but certainly it is possible to trim them down to necessities
I think over the years iâve gotten used to my embedded devices doing as much âstuffâ as possible. Most of the devices i have at home are embedded and tweakable; i can change the firmware of my router, my NAS, my Raspberry 4, my sat/cable receiver, my beamer, my phone etc. Theyâre all basically the same devices, running ARM/MIPS linux with a package manager (or Android), and i can tweak them to my hearts content. The Nova is the only embedded device i have that is closed, and that is a pity.
I would have no problem with installing Samba and perhaps a separate UPNP server, and using the Nova as a fileserver. It would be super convenient i think. I currently only have a Raspberry with an SSD in the network to perform this task because the Nova doesnât do it, although it technically could.
Iâm personally not really in the âcpu usage affects sound qualityâ camp. I believe the effect is generally negligible (at least on a device like the Nova) and i much prefer my device to do as much as possible. As long as everything runs stable i think itâs fine.
I understand ofcourse that the Naim streamers are not marketed as tweakable devices like the ones i mentioned and thatâs okay. But still, itâs a pity. Iâll dream on. 
But you also have no need for it as you have lots of other options 
IMO, letâs Naim focus on making the best music players that they can (and not tell them what they need or not need to optimize for it. I believe they know better than I)
Iâm sure they will do just that, they seem to know pretty well what they want and how they want to do itâŚ